Shownotes
The Brownie Brittle
Story
First … a brownie business after being laid off from her corporate job. [4:54]
The Brownie Brittle idea was realized. [5:43]
The decision to focus solely on Brownie Brittle [7:01]
Sheila shares some financial stats from her big growth year. [16:40]
The cookbook – Butter and Chocolate. [17:48]
Candle Flickering Moments
The struggles of business development and how one major pivot was the answer. [21:17]Business Building Insights
How Sheila landed the Walt Disney account in her first brownie business. [8:09] Accepting and working through fulfilling a gigantic order. The next level of production. [11:38] Getting visibility in box stores and sampling. [15:09] Advice on getting into box stores. [22:57] The value of testing your product first in a few stores. [23:48] Surprise! Sheila found a lot of support from her peers. [25:33]Success Trait
Being tenacious has helped Sheila drive through all the business development challenges. [26:39]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Sheila divides projects into categories so she can prioritize what’s the most important. [28:16]Recommended Reading and Listening
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Sheila G’s Butter and Chocolate – 101 Creative Sweets and Treats Using Brownie Batter
Contact Links
Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedInIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz on rapt episode one Oh one.
Speaker:The good news is we've created a product that no one's
Speaker:ever heard of before.
Speaker:And the bad news is we've created a product that no
Speaker:one has ever heard of before.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gift to biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to Lights it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but you just can't get yourself to do it because it's
Speaker:scary. Are you afraid that you might walk into the room
Speaker:and not know anybody or that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to
Speaker:be scary.
Speaker:If you know what to do to help you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a coffee chat for the
Speaker:price of find me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down through an online video and I'll tell
Speaker:you everything that I know about networking and how I have
Speaker:personally built two multi-six figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to fiddly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi, there it's Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast, whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am so pleased to bring to you
Speaker:Sheila mains of brownie,
Speaker:brittle, Sheila was laid off from a corporate job in 1992.
Speaker:So at the age of 42,
Speaker:she decided it was time to do something that she loved.
Speaker:And that was baking.
Speaker:Sheila took a treasured family recipe for brownies and launched a
Speaker:little brownie business.
Speaker:There were many ups and downs over the years,
Speaker:and it wasn't really until about 2011 that all the hard
Speaker:work and sacrifices began to pay off.
Speaker:That was when she created a product called brownie brittle.
Speaker:By the end of that year,
Speaker:they had approximately 200,000
Speaker:bags of brownie brittle on store shelves.
Speaker:And today they have over,
Speaker:are you ready for this 30 million bags in stores Also
Speaker:internationally. Sheila,
Speaker:welcome to the show.
Speaker:Well thank You for having me.
Speaker:So it's my pleasure.
Speaker:I am thrilled that you're joining me and I'm going to
Speaker:start off as we always do.
Speaker:It's kind of a tradition here by having you describe a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:If you were to create a candle that really speaks you,
Speaker:what color would it be and what would be the quote
Speaker:on your candle?
Speaker:Well, I think that color would be cream,
Speaker:a cream colored candle for a couple of reasons.
Speaker:One is cream is a very common color for me and
Speaker:perfect for my quote,
Speaker:but also because cream colored candles generally smell like vanilla.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:as a Baker,
Speaker:you have to know how I love the smell of vanilla
Speaker:and filling up my kitchen and my entire house with the
Speaker:smell of vanilla and baking.
Speaker:And then my quote that goes along with it is actually
Speaker:from the Talmud.
Speaker:And I have it on my desk next to a picture
Speaker:of my grandmother.
Speaker:And it goes like this.
Speaker:Every blade of grass has this angel that bends over it
Speaker:and whispers grow,
Speaker:grow. And I think when you're starting a business and working
Speaker:by yourself all alone,
Speaker:it's kind of nice to know that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:maybe you're not so alone and that you have someone out
Speaker:there that is just making sure that things go in your
Speaker:favor, work your way.
Speaker:Keep you encouraged.
Speaker:That is such a wonderful visual as you described it.
Speaker:I've never heard that before and I'm going to keep that
Speaker:and carry that with me.
Speaker:I really like that Pharaoh at any time.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Grow, grow,
Speaker:grow, grow,
Speaker:grow, grow.
Speaker:Yep. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Let's talk about how brownie brittle got started.
Speaker:I just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it has become like a phenomenon.
Speaker:It seems like Sheila.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everyone knows about it.
Speaker:People are baking with it.
Speaker:Your business has exploded,
Speaker:but let's walk it back to the beginning because I'm sure
Speaker:you didn't know that that was where you were going to
Speaker:be gone.
Speaker:No only hoped.
Speaker:So what you knew you were going to start baking,
Speaker:but what did you do?
Speaker:What were the first steps to start building this business?
Speaker:The first part of the business was a brownie business.
Speaker:I had been living in the corporate world.
Speaker:My background was finance and I was laid off from my
Speaker:corporate job.
Speaker:I had worked my way up to that coveted corner office
Speaker:with two windows.
Speaker:And on one Friday in 1992,
Speaker:I was told that was going to be my last day.
Speaker:The company had suffered some losses and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I just wanted to do what I love and I love
Speaker:to bake.
Speaker:I knew I couldn't go back to the corporate world and
Speaker:give 150% again.
Speaker:And I couldn't go back and give any less.
Speaker:So I decided,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm going to give this three months.
Speaker:I come from a long line of bakers.
Speaker:My mother and my grandmother were phenomenal bakers.
Speaker:And of course their love of baking was contagious.
Speaker:So that's how I got into the brownie business and the
Speaker:brownie brittle business stemmed from that.
Speaker:I always love the corner pieces and those drippings on the
Speaker:side of the pan.
Speaker:And I used to go back into the plant and snack
Speaker:on those drippings in the afternoon.
Speaker:Pretty soon the drippings were getting scarce and went back there
Speaker:a little bit earlier one day and everyone working on the
Speaker:line was there snacking on the drippings.
Speaker:And that was my light bulb moment.
Speaker:Maybe we've got something here.
Speaker:Interesting. And so before that,
Speaker:there were clearly drippings,
Speaker:but you just weren't seeing it or,
Speaker:Or, you know,
Speaker:well, they were,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it was like the corner pieces,
Speaker:those drippings on the side of the pan,
Speaker:but I thought it was the only one that loves munching
Speaker:on those until yeah.
Speaker:I realized everybody working in the line was doing the same
Speaker:thing and they loved it and it was like,
Speaker:maybe we have something here.
Speaker:So it was taking the batter,
Speaker:spreading it thin in the pan,
Speaker:baking it off,
Speaker:testing different toppings and Ronnie brittle was born.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:So this is a great example of how you can identify
Speaker:a new business.
Speaker:I'm kind of,
Speaker:well, it's a new product within your overall business.
Speaker:Is the original brownie business still up and around,
Speaker:or is it all transitioned at this point?
Speaker:It has all transitioned.
Speaker:I had a very nice account called Walt Disney world for
Speaker:22 years.
Speaker:And we maintain that up until may of last year.
Speaker:They decided to bring their brownie baking operation in house.
Speaker:So that was kind of the last of the brownie business.
Speaker:And we're actually running brownie brittle out of two plants,
Speaker:one in Florida and one in California and the brownies were
Speaker:in a third plant.
Speaker:So it really kind of worked out well.
Speaker:We really need to focus on our core item,
Speaker:right, For sure.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Well, for this to be beneficial to our listeners,
Speaker:I do want to jump back because you can't say Disney
Speaker:and let me just pass over that,
Speaker:that just can't happen here.
Speaker:So just for a minute,
Speaker:let's go back,
Speaker:let's leave brownie brittle for a second and talk about the
Speaker:brownie business.
Speaker:That obviously was a huge account.
Speaker:It probably had you keeping the brownie business,
Speaker:the initial business open a little longer,
Speaker:because clearly you want to service a large company like that.
Speaker:How did that whole thing evolve in terms of identifying that
Speaker:Disney could possibly be a customer?
Speaker:Walk us through a little bit of how that happened.
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:the brownie business initially was like tens and platters and we
Speaker:did get baskets as well with our brownies.
Speaker:And I had a customer was a real estate attorney.
Speaker:And at the holidays,
Speaker:he used to do a tremendous amount of business with me,
Speaker:sending out to realtors that had referred their clients to him.
Speaker:So one year he had gone on a fat-free diet and
Speaker:he said to me,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I don't know that I can send out your brownies this
Speaker:year because everybody is been commenting about how much weight I
Speaker:lost. And then I'm going to send out these like heavy
Speaker:duty, butter and chocolate brownies.
Speaker:Do you think he could come up with a fat-free brownie?
Speaker:So I said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:certainly can try and rolled up my sleeves and,
Speaker:and got to work.
Speaker:And it had to be,
Speaker:it couldn't be just good.
Speaker:It had to be great.
Speaker:And that's how,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:of course we feel about brownie brittle and all the slavers
Speaker:too. We look for that,
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Factor from our customers.
Speaker:And if we don't get it,
Speaker:that product isn't going anywhere.
Speaker:So I finally came out with a really good fat-free brownie
Speaker:and one of my neighbors and the industrial complex,
Speaker:where I had the little bakery came by one day and
Speaker:he said,
Speaker:what are you doing?
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:Oh, try this.
Speaker:And he goes,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:this is really good.
Speaker:He said,
Speaker:can you give me some samples?
Speaker:I'd like to send it to a friend.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:sure, well,
Speaker:his friend was one of the top people at Disney.
Speaker:And they were looking for healthier items to put in a
Speaker:quick service restaurants in the parks and on the dessert menus.
Speaker:And she loved it.
Speaker:And she took it to the executive chef at Epcot and
Speaker:he liked it as well.
Speaker:And I was invited up to do a cutting,
Speaker:which is like a sampling front of 12 executive chefs.
Speaker:No pressure.
Speaker:Yeah. So I did,
Speaker:I went Up there,
Speaker:it took a few weeks to put it together and I
Speaker:went up there and brought several different varieties of our brownies.
Speaker:And the next thing you know,
Speaker:we had an order for 37,000
Speaker:brownies, pretty incredible.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Well, that is such a fantastic story.
Speaker:And a couple of things I want to just emphasize here
Speaker:for everybody is you really listened to just an individual customer.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you had no idea at that point who,
Speaker:who the friend was that he was sending that product to.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:But a really important point in terms of listening to your
Speaker:customers because so many good ideas can come from their mouths.
Speaker:You don't have to be the one who knows everything.
Speaker:Peer Sheila had the talent and the knowledge and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the flavors and the baking tricks for the brownies,
Speaker:but she listened to what a customer said and look at
Speaker:what happened.
Speaker:The other thing is she didn't just fulfill that customer's need
Speaker:with, okay.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we'll just do this on the side real quick,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:make something for them.
Speaker:And that'll be that she made sure the product was fabulous,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:to her way of talking the wow factor.
Speaker:And then you got yourself out there,
Speaker:you put yourself in a kind of scary situation with that
Speaker:presentation and look what happened.
Speaker:You didn't hold back,
Speaker:you got yourself out there.
Speaker:And so now you're sitting on this super big order.
Speaker:How in the world did you fulfill that?
Speaker:I'm sure that was,
Speaker:I don't know how many times the size of your past
Speaker:largest order,
Speaker:but were there any struggles there and actually get up to
Speaker:level and fulfill that type of an order?
Speaker:I took the business to a whole new level and beyond
Speaker:the capacity of my little 1200 square foot facility,
Speaker:I learned about contract manufacturing and this was all new to
Speaker:me and looking at different that were not only interested in
Speaker:doing contract manufacturing and other words,
Speaker:making products for another company,
Speaker:but we're capable,
Speaker:had the capabilities,
Speaker:had the cutting materials,
Speaker:had the wrapping materials,
Speaker:had all the equipment that we needed.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the first thing you say is sure,
Speaker:yes, we can do it.
Speaker:And then we roll up your sleeves and once again,
Speaker:and you know,
Speaker:dig in and try and figure out exactly how that's going
Speaker:to happen.
Speaker:And it's interesting how there's just this synergy,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you start heading in one direction and you meet someone and
Speaker:they know someone,
Speaker:or I remember reaching out to one of my suppliers and
Speaker:of course they're the best resource because they know all the
Speaker:bakeries and who has what?
Speaker:And so that was a tremendous help.
Speaker:So transitioning from that to producing like tens and platters to
Speaker:37,000 brownies.
Speaker:Yeah. Was it a challenge?
Speaker:Yes. We certainly made sure that we had enough lead time
Speaker:for not just the production,
Speaker:but also all the packaging that we needed to order special
Speaker:packaging. Right.
Speaker:Yeah. And so did you end up having multiple contractors or
Speaker:just one on one baking facility Over the years,
Speaker:multiple, some worked out better than others.
Speaker:It was an experience.
Speaker:Would I do that again?
Speaker:Yes and no.
Speaker:I think that it just requires vigilance making sure either you're
Speaker:there or someone that you trust is there supervising production.
Speaker:Yeah. That's kind of where I was getting with that question.
Speaker:I kind of thinking,
Speaker:and I haven't been in the baking industry in that manner,
Speaker:but I'm thinking that your direction and information down to them
Speaker:so that they produce the product that you initially presented,
Speaker:right. That Disney's expecting to get is exactly along the same
Speaker:lines. And then you have to have people watching at all
Speaker:times, like you said,
Speaker:so I'm sure quite different from what you did when you
Speaker:started out with the brownies.
Speaker:Very different.
Speaker:Yeah. Going from 80 chord,
Speaker:Hobart mixer to 340 quart mixers,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we had like at 1.1
Speaker:plan had three of them and they could all three could
Speaker:be going at the same time.
Speaker:Could you put a person in there?
Speaker:Is that how big they are?
Speaker:Yes. Oh yeah.
Speaker:Oh, a person.
Speaker:Yeah. In the mixer.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Actually. Oh,
Speaker:Willy Wonka.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's now swing around to brownie brittle.
Speaker:So you're describing how you first came about and identified that
Speaker:this could possibly be a product and started testing it.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:gift biz listeners in my hundredth episode,
Speaker:which was just one back,
Speaker:we talk about how you identify a business or a product.
Speaker:And here is yet again,
Speaker:another perfect example because you know,
Speaker:it was a single point in time,
Speaker:a single revelation.
Speaker:And you don't know when you're going your day,
Speaker:where that might happen.
Speaker:Sheila saw it,
Speaker:identified it and bingo,
Speaker:there it was.
Speaker:And then she had to work the idea.
Speaker:So let's continue on with the brownie brittle.
Speaker:So you had the idea,
Speaker:you started sampling,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:making the brownie super thin,
Speaker:like that,
Speaker:what happened next?
Speaker:Then it was just getting the samples out there.
Speaker:And there was a couple different packaging changes that we've done
Speaker:along the way,
Speaker:just trying to continually perfect the packaging so that the focus
Speaker:was on initially getting samples out there,
Speaker:filling the orders as they came in and then optimizing it,
Speaker:commercializing the process.
Speaker:And so that we could do the scale up and do
Speaker:the volume.
Speaker:So were you sending samples out to customers that you already
Speaker:had from the past business or were you approaching a brand
Speaker:new setup?
Speaker:It was an entirely new sector.
Speaker:So there was another learning curve there.
Speaker:What I had done with the brownies was basically food service.
Speaker:So half sheets for food service distributors would be the base
Speaker:for our brownie Sunday.
Speaker:So it was now all of a sudden it was retail
Speaker:and it was gourmet shops.
Speaker:It was grocery stores.
Speaker:It was club stores,
Speaker:meaning like Costco Sam's BJ's,
Speaker:it was different margins,
Speaker:different markups.
Speaker:Anyway, what I basically did was teamed up with a group
Speaker:out of Orlando who was very familiar with that industry.
Speaker:And we were able to catapult the product out into the
Speaker:marketplace and find adequate production and streamline that customize equipment Ramping
Speaker:up once again,
Speaker:entirely. Yep.
Speaker:And I can tell you that the first half of 2012,
Speaker:I did less than a half a million in sales and
Speaker:from July to the end of December where we were in
Speaker:what was full speed ahead mode,
Speaker:we did 8 million just insane Word.
Speaker:Wow. So receptivity was really high,
Speaker:right from the start.
Speaker:It was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:getting it into Costco and the demos that was the biggest
Speaker:challenge was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and I used to say,
Speaker:the good news is we've created a product that no one's
Speaker:ever heard of before.
Speaker:And the bad news is we've created a product that no
Speaker:one's ever heard of before.
Speaker:So it was all about driving trial and demos,
Speaker:demos, demos,
Speaker:and Costco.
Speaker:And BJ's Sam's,
Speaker:they were the perfect vehicle for this product.
Speaker:Yeah. I first saw it was in Sam's at a demo
Speaker:as a matter of fact,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you say it's a brand new product,
Speaker:but it's kind of grounded in something we already know,
Speaker:which is brownies,
Speaker:right. So it's not totally new,
Speaker:but it is in terms of how you apply it.
Speaker:I would say,
Speaker:which leads a little bit to your cookbook.
Speaker:So let's talk that right now.
Speaker:Oh, That was fun.
Speaker:Butter and chocolate.
Speaker:And I had no idea what I was taking on,
Speaker:but I'm really proud of how it turned out.
Speaker:And we've just gotten some amazing reviews about the cookbook.
Speaker:You have this idea to do a cookbook in your mind,
Speaker:or did someone come to you and say,
Speaker:you really should do a cookbook.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:We have recipes on brownie,
Speaker:brittle.com and our fans love them and they want more and
Speaker:had all these treasured recipes,
Speaker:many of them,
Speaker:family recipes.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I want to get them out there.
Speaker:And so it's not just the brownie,
Speaker:brittle recipes.
Speaker:There are quite a few in the cookbook,
Speaker:but it's actually taking that original family recipe for brownies and
Speaker:showing people all the different things that you can do with
Speaker:it, like brownie,
Speaker:truffles, brownie cookies,
Speaker:brownie bites,
Speaker:brownie, waffles,
Speaker:brownie, French toast.
Speaker:I have a recipe in there for an edible like brownie
Speaker:batter that you could use to stuff the French toast or
Speaker:a crepe.
Speaker:It is very creative.
Speaker:It's not something that weight Watchers would offer,
Speaker:But you're allowed to cheat every once in a while.
Speaker:Right. You know what?
Speaker:I always believe if you're going to indulge,
Speaker:make sure it's worth it,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:And yeah.
Speaker:And you know what,
Speaker:even if you don't want to do the made from scratch
Speaker:brownie recipe,
Speaker:you can incorporate brownie mix into these recipes as well and
Speaker:look like a real hero.
Speaker:Right. And I love the fact that you still have the
Speaker:family recipes integrated in and then regular brownies and the brownie
Speaker:brittle too,
Speaker:because I think when you and I met last year,
Speaker:I think we were at America's baking in sweets and you
Speaker:were signing books,
Speaker:right. Our conversation,
Speaker:a part of it anyway,
Speaker:was people needed to understand what to do with brownie brittle.
Speaker:Like it wasn't exactly,
Speaker:it tastes great by itself,
Speaker:but it isn't an exact extension of how you might bake
Speaker:with it and use it for other things besides just by
Speaker:itself. Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah. And you can grind it up and use it just
Speaker:like you would a Graham Cracker and make a crust out
Speaker:of it.
Speaker:It's got that nice chocolate crunchy,
Speaker:finished a cheesecake or a tart or a pie or bars.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:imagine like the seven layer bars that everyone just loves and
Speaker:using brownie brittle as a base for that.
Speaker:So great idea.
Speaker:Again, give Ms listeners think about your product.
Speaker:It's not an automatic assumption.
Speaker:I think we're around our products so often that we're like,
Speaker:well, yeah,
Speaker:you can apply it this way and you can apply it
Speaker:this way.
Speaker:This is obvious,
Speaker:but not necessarily.
Speaker:So sometimes you have to walk a customer exactly.
Speaker:To what they can do,
Speaker:just like Sheila's now doing in her cookbooks.
Speaker:So, and we will make sure,
Speaker:because you want to take a look at this cookbook.
Speaker:We'll link up in the show notes,
Speaker:page, that book,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:So that you can see what that's all about.
Speaker:Okay. So your whole story to this point,
Speaker:I'm going to call you the queen of brownies.
Speaker:Now she loved because you've got the initial brownie business with
Speaker:Walt Disney as a customer,
Speaker:super exciting.
Speaker:Then you morphed into brownie,
Speaker:brittle in all the box stores,
Speaker:revenue wise jumped a millions of dollars within that year.
Speaker:Something had to go wrong.
Speaker:There has to be a story in here that was challenging.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:like it just,
Speaker:it still makes you stand in your tracks and be like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I can't believe we got through it.
Speaker:What's that story?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there were so many,
Speaker:there were so many struggles.
Speaker:There was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it sounds like,
Speaker:Oh, look at this,
Speaker:she got 37,000
Speaker:brownies and it just kept going and going now it was
Speaker:a rollercoaster ride.
Speaker:And someday I'll write a book you had experienced.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:There will be hundreds of pages dedicated to the downside.
Speaker:But I think the most significant dip that I experienced was
Speaker:the 2008 housing crisis.
Speaker:So here I am like all these years starting the businesses
Speaker:in 1992,
Speaker:few ups and downs,
Speaker:but then the housing crisis and my Disney business was just
Speaker:way down food service business was way down.
Speaker:People weren't saving their money to go to Disney.
Speaker:They were trying to save their homes.
Speaker:They weren't eating out.
Speaker:And when they were,
Speaker:they weren't ordering a $5 brownie Sunday.
Speaker:So I had to find them in the grocery store.
Speaker:And that was when I said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I'm going to take this product,
Speaker:this brownie brittle,
Speaker:go to the grocery.
Speaker:Cause you,
Speaker:you go to a grocery buyer and you show them brownies.
Speaker:And Bronies are like a me too item.
Speaker:The first response is going to be,
Speaker:we already have a brownie or cheesecake guy makes a brownie,
Speaker:but no one was going to tell me that they already
Speaker:had a brownie brittle.
Speaker:So, so that's exactly what I did.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I decided to throw everything I had left into launching brownie
Speaker:brittle. And fortunately it worked out sure.
Speaker:Dad Vice for people who might be at a point where
Speaker:they're wanting to approach some of the bigger box stores,
Speaker:Don't be intimidated.
Speaker:I think that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:make an appointment,
Speaker:go out there and they're all looking for new products and
Speaker:just make sure that you've got your numbers,
Speaker:that, you know,
Speaker:your costs,
Speaker:because if you're upside down just to scent,
Speaker:you could lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker:So I would make sure you've got your pricing,
Speaker:right. Make sure you've got your packaging.
Speaker:Right. And take that big leap of faith.
Speaker:What have you got to lose?
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I totally agree.
Speaker:And I also see a lot in my neighborhood,
Speaker:some of the smaller grocery chains,
Speaker:as well as like whole foods are very interested in a
Speaker:lot of local items too.
Speaker:And they will take on some of those categories.
Speaker:So if you get some success in a local venue,
Speaker:will that help you as you go to some of the
Speaker:larger brands or the larger chains,
Speaker:I guess I should say.
Speaker:Yeah, Last absolutely.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:one is a good test for the product.
Speaker:You're dipping your foot in the pond there and seeing if
Speaker:it's just you,
Speaker:that thinks the product is great or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your friends that thinks the product is great,
Speaker:getting it on shelf and seeing how it moves is certainly
Speaker:the best test.
Speaker:And then a lot of the larger club stores like Costco
Speaker:Sam's they also have regional buying offices.
Speaker:So let's say you just get it into your local market,
Speaker:out a gourmet market.
Speaker:And it does well,
Speaker:and you want to go to your local,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your grocery.
Speaker:They can actually test it out in different divisions.
Speaker:Like here we're in Florida.
Speaker:So Publix has different divisions.
Speaker:They might put it in the Miami division and have the
Speaker:product in a limited number of stores before they put it
Speaker:across the board.
Speaker:That's great advice.
Speaker:It's also not a bad idea because then when you start
Speaker:talking about production and having to ramp up,
Speaker:you're not overwhelmed by going from really,
Speaker:really small to huge right away.
Speaker:Plus if it doesn't work and it doesn't move in the
Speaker:stores and they don't reorder,
Speaker:then you're stuck.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Terms of costs.
Speaker:So absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah. Great advice in terms of,
Speaker:don't be intimidated,
Speaker:just go in,
Speaker:show your product and know that they're also looking,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they can't have product on the shelves.
Speaker:That is the same over time.
Speaker:Either a store has to continually refresh,
Speaker:offer new things or they're going to lose their customers.
Speaker:So it's a win-win as long as your product is stable,
Speaker:your is stable.
Speaker:The pricing is on like Sheila's talking about Exactly.
Speaker:Is there anything else You would add here,
Speaker:Sheila, before we move on?
Speaker:No, don't be afraid to reach out to other people in
Speaker:the industry for advice.
Speaker:What I learned when I first started the brownie business,
Speaker:which was very refreshing,
Speaker:is it wasn't like the same as a corporate world where
Speaker:everybody was so tight lipped and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:held their cards against their chest.
Speaker:A lot of them were interested in helping other people.
Speaker:I think too,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:women in business tend to be more generous with their advice
Speaker:and support and reach down and lift up another woman business
Speaker:owner and help them.
Speaker:I also believe in Armen,
Speaker:everything comes full circle and you just never know.
Speaker:So I'm,
Speaker:I'm actually a mentor for the specialty food association.
Speaker:And I enjoy talking to people who are trying to launch
Speaker:a new product and emerging brands.
Speaker:Beautiful. Kind of like what we're doing here right now.
Speaker:Sheila, I want to turn now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a little bit more looking at you as a
Speaker:person where our listeners can hopefully relate or grab some tips
Speaker:from you.
Speaker:What is a trait that you've just had naturally that you've
Speaker:called upon as you've made your journey?
Speaker:I am tenacious and I don't know that I always possessed
Speaker:that trait or I just developed it along the way with
Speaker:everything that I had to put up with,
Speaker:but it certainly was one that I developed.
Speaker:And thank God,
Speaker:because I think those big dips would have definitely put me
Speaker:in a wouldn't put me in the same place I am
Speaker:today. You would have just said,
Speaker:this is way too much.
Speaker:I'm moving on.
Speaker:Not doing it.
Speaker:Yeah, I do.
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know,
Speaker:I find that for myself too.
Speaker:Sometimes it's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I'm so overwhelmed.
Speaker:Why am I doing this?
Speaker:And all I need is a good night's sleep.
Speaker:And then I get up and I'm full charge.
Speaker:I had again.
Speaker:Right, exactly.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Is there a tool or something else that you use that
Speaker:you would,
Speaker:could be able to share with our listeners that helps you
Speaker:keep productive or to create balance?
Speaker:So I have no balance.
Speaker:I don't think I can advise anyone on how to have
Speaker:balance in their life.
Speaker:Another trait being honesty.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:I Think once you let go of that,
Speaker:you realize,
Speaker:okay, this is not how it's going to be.
Speaker:I'm fortunate that my children work with me.
Speaker:So I get to see my kids and my husband is
Speaker:retired and he's very happy to just kind of sit back
Speaker:and float the pool.
Speaker:So, and very supportive.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:that's great,
Speaker:but I just try and work in the time of my
Speaker:friends, my girlfriends are like so important.
Speaker:So being able to grab a lunch here or there,
Speaker:and fortunately they're also very supportive and patient with me,
Speaker:but I would say that I've learned to kind of go
Speaker:through my day by dividing projects into two categories.
Speaker:Those that are important and those that are urgent otherwise your
Speaker:entire day can get derailed.
Speaker:That's one thing that I definitely try and a tool that
Speaker:I try and use,
Speaker:especially, you know,
Speaker:with calls and emails and texts,
Speaker:you could just get thrown all over the place and someone
Speaker:like me with serious add,
Speaker:forget it.
Speaker:It could be just overwhelming,
Speaker:but that does help.
Speaker:So then you were able to prioritize your tasks and make
Speaker:sure you're not spending too much time on things that are
Speaker:important, but could really take up your whole day.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And is there a book that you've read lately that you
Speaker:think our listeners could find value in?
Speaker:I'm not an avid book reader,
Speaker:not because I don't enjoy reading a good book,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:I really have time to finish one.
Speaker:So that's very frustrating to me.
Speaker:I know I pour through a lot of articles on a
Speaker:daily basis about what's going on in the industry,
Speaker:but there is one book that I would highly recommend.
Speaker:It's one that changed my life.
Speaker:I pull it out every once in a while and the
Speaker:pages are tattered and there's highlights and underlines.
Speaker:And the book is the secret by Rhonda Byrne.
Speaker:I've just been able to benefit so much from her teachings.
Speaker:It works.
Speaker:I don't know if you're familiar with the book,
Speaker:but yes,
Speaker:I'm so familiar.
Speaker:And I totally believe in that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I look at the path that I've been on and it
Speaker:just seems like there are things that just get placed in
Speaker:my path because it's going to lead me forward one way
Speaker:or another,
Speaker:or maybe it's that little angel on the blade of grass.
Speaker:I'm not sure.
Speaker:Yeah. There you go.
Speaker:No, I totally,
Speaker:totally believe in that.
Speaker:So when you're seeing the same thing,
Speaker:putting it out there,
Speaker:what you want to do.
Speaker:And I think a lot of that also goes back to
Speaker:some people will start their businesses and not really know what
Speaker:they're doing.
Speaker:Right. Not really know.
Speaker:They don't have an end game.
Speaker:They're just like,
Speaker:I want to start this business and it's going to be
Speaker:this, but what is it really going to look like?
Speaker:So I think for the secret to work,
Speaker:you have to have an idea.
Speaker:You have to be going somewhere.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:You have to be on that path.
Speaker:And then again,
Speaker:that synergy that just things just come into your life,
Speaker:the things that you need,
Speaker:the people that you need,
Speaker:but it takes believing to an entirely new level.
Speaker:It's believing when you have no reason to believe in something
Speaker:and still believing powerful.
Speaker:Yeah. And surrounding yourself with people that support your belief.
Speaker:And don't listen to the naysayers Well and give biz listeners
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books.
Speaker:If you're not able to read either audio books are a
Speaker:little bit easier to consume.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book,
Speaker:just like the secret.
Speaker:And I do know that that's on audible because I have
Speaker:it all you need to do.
Speaker:If you want to get a free book is go to
Speaker:gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:Okay. Sheila,
Speaker:it's time for me to invite you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I have to say my dream has come true with the
Speaker:brownie brittle.
Speaker:And I'm so fortunate and I'm so grateful with it.
Speaker:We've been able to give back to different organizations like cookies
Speaker:for kids cancer and kids,
Speaker:community closet,
Speaker:canine companions for independence,
Speaker:our local food bank.
Speaker:I would love for that to go on forever through a
Speaker:foundation. So I opened up that magical box.
Speaker:It would be this foundation that was funded and would carry
Speaker:on this great work that we've done forever.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're in a place right now that I think all of
Speaker:us want to be,
Speaker:you're living your dream and you want to just extend it
Speaker:and continue and give back.
Speaker:Exactly. There is just nothing better than being able to back.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:seeing what all this hard work is done.
Speaker:It's great that everybody loves the product.
Speaker:And I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from all the
Speaker:letters and emails that come in every day from people,
Speaker:our fans,
Speaker:our customers,
Speaker:but to know that we're able to take some of that
Speaker:and do some good with it is so rewarding.
Speaker:Give his listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that they'll be a lot of information over on the show
Speaker:notes page,
Speaker:but if you're not near a computer,
Speaker:not able to jump over there right now,
Speaker:Sheila, where would be a single place online where you would
Speaker:direct people if they wanted to learn more about you and
Speaker:the Product brownie,
Speaker:brittle.com. Well,
Speaker:that's hard.
Speaker:Bernie reel.com
Speaker:and our number is 1-800-BROWNIE.
Speaker:Oh, you're lucky to have gotten that.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:I know it goes back to that karma,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:Yep. It did.
Speaker:Yeah. When you're wondering whether you're headed in the right direction
Speaker:or not,
Speaker:and this was way back in the start of the brownie
Speaker:business. And it's like,
Speaker:I think somebody is trying to tell me something,
Speaker:this phone number it became available and I was able to
Speaker:get it.
Speaker:Yeah. Yep.
Speaker:You have to be like,
Speaker:yes. Yes.
Speaker:And there have been many yeses along your journey.
Speaker:And I so appreciate you being here today,
Speaker:sharing with us,
Speaker:the experiences,
Speaker:giving an insight into what you've gone through to be successful
Speaker:in how things have gone from one business to another and
Speaker:then extended on with your book.
Speaker:I really love the fact Sheila that you've taken brownie brittle,
Speaker:which is such an awesome product unto itself and made it
Speaker:extend into a greater good it's the best because a product
Speaker:is a product,
Speaker:but when it can do more for people and really create
Speaker:even more good in the world,
Speaker:you've got something golden.
Speaker:Thank you again for sharing and may your candle always.
Speaker:Thanks. Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at fit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone by texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company.
Speaker:Looking for a new income source for your business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever brand your products with
Speaker:your logo or prints,
Speaker:a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica Griffin,
Speaker:to add to a gift,
Speaker:right? A checkout it's all done right in your shop or
Speaker:cross studio in second,
Speaker:check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
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Speaker:And thank you to those who have already,
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Speaker:help to increase the visibility of gift biz on unwrapped.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
